Flexible radio resource allocation

ABSTRACT

For flexible radio resource allocation, a processor  405  monitors for a transmission control  150/155  in a given Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol  10  of a first slot  11  based on a transmission control policy  290 . The processor  405  further receives the transmission control  150/155  in the given OFDM symbol  10 . The processor  405  determines available time frequency resources (TFR)  16  for a data transmission based on at least a symbol position  203  of the given OFDM symbol  10  and the transmission control policy  290 , wherein the TFR  16  comprise at least one OFDM symbol  10  and at least one frequency range  15.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application62/403,022 entitled “FLEXIBLE RADIO RESOURCE ALLOCATION METHODS” andfiled on Sep. 30, 2016 for Robert Love, which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to resource allocation andmore particularly relates to flexible radio resource allocation.

BACKGROUND Description of the Related Art

Long Term Evolution (LTE) and other wireless communication standards maysubdivide transmissions to efficient use available bandwidth.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A method for flexible radio resource allocation is disclosed. The methodmonitors, by use of a processor, for a transmission control in a givenOrthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a first slotbased on a transmission control policy. The method further receives thetransmission control in the given OFDM symbol. The method determinesavailable time frequency resources (TFR) for a data transmission basedon at least a symbol position of the given OFDM symbol and thetransmission control policy, wherein the TFR comprise at least one OFDMsymbol and at least one frequency range. The method communicates thedata transmission in the TFR. An apparatus and program product alsoperform the functions of the method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more particular description of the embodiments briefly described abovewill be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only some embodiments and are not therefore to be considered tobe limiting of scope, the embodiments will be described and explainedwith additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of acommunication system;

FIG. 1B is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a14-symbol slot;

FIG. 1C is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment ofseven-symbol slots;

FIG. 1D is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a14-symbol slot;

FIG. 1E is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment ofseven-symbol slots;

FIG. 1F is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of timefrequency resources data;

FIG. 1G is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransmission control;

FIG. 1H is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of amodulation encoding scheme index;

FIG. 1I is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransport block index;

FIG. 1J is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of anumerology scheme;

FIG. 1K is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransmission control policy;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2E is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2F is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2G is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2H is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 2I is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls within slots;

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of datatransmission within slots;

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 3E is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 3F is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 3G is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 3H is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 3I is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of datatransmission;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 4D is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots;

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of a resourcemarker;

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofa resource marker;

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of multiplenumerologies;

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofmultiple numerologies;

FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofmultiple numerologies;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransceiver;

FIG. 8A is a schematic flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment ofthe scheduling method;

FIG. 8B is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment ofa multiple numerology method;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of slots;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of timeresource units and mini-time resource units;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of timeresource units;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of timeresource units;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of timeresource units;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransport block data transmission within slots;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of transportblocks data transmission within slots; and

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of transportblocks data transmission within slots.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of theembodiments may be embodied as a system, method or program product.Accordingly, embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware,resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining softwareand hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a“circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, embodiments may take theform of a program product embodied in one or more computer readablestorage devices storing machine readable code, computer readable code,and/or program code, referred hereafter as code. The storage devices maybe tangible, non-transitory, and/or non-transmission. The storagedevices may not embody signals. In a certain embodiment, the storagedevices only employ signals for accessing code.

Many of the functional units described in this specification have beenlabeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize theirimplementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented asa hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits or gate arrays,off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or otherdiscrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmablehardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmablearray logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in code and/or software for execution byvarious types of processors. An identified module of code may, forinstance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of executablecode which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, orfunction. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module need notbe physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructionsstored in different locations which, when joined logically together,comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed, a module of code may be a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may even be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated hereinwithin modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organizedwithin any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may becollected as a single data set, or may be distributed over differentlocations including over different computer readable storage devices.Where a module or portions of a module are implemented in software, thesoftware portions are stored on one or more computer readable storagedevices.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium may be utilized.The computer readable medium may be a computer readable storage medium.The computer readable storage medium may be a storage device storing thecode. The storage device may be, for example, but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, holographic,micromechanical, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing.

More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the storage devicewould include the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document,a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Code for carrying out operations for embodiments may be written in anycombination of one or more programming languages including anobject-oriented programming language such as Python, Ruby, Java,Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language, or the like, and/ormachine languages such as assembly languages. The code may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider).

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the sameembodiment, but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unlessexpressly specified otherwise. The terms “including,” “comprising,”“having,” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to,”unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of itemsdoes not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive,unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a,” “an,” and “the”also refer to “one or more” unless expressly specified otherwise.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics ofthe embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner. In the followingdescription, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples ofprogramming, software modules, user selections, network transactions,database queries, database structures, hardware modules, hardwarecircuits, hardware chips, etc., to provide a thorough understanding ofembodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however,that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. Inother instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are notshown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of anembodiment.

Aspects of the embodiments are described below with reference toschematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams of methods,apparatuses, systems, and program products according to embodiments. Itwill be understood that each block of the schematic flowchart diagramsand/or schematic block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theschematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams, can beimplemented by code. The code may be provided to a processor of ageneral-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such thatthe instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer orother programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the schematic flowchartdiagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be stored in a storage device that can direct acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devicesto function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored inthe storage device produce an article of manufacture includinginstructions which implement the function/act specified in the schematicflowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operationalsteps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus orother devices to produce a computer implemented process such that thecode which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatusprovide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams in theFigures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation ofpossible implementations of apparatuses, systems, methods and programproducts according to various embodiments. In this regard, each block inthe schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams mayrepresent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one ormore executable instructions of the code for implementing the specifiedlogical function(s).

It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in theFigures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalentin function, logic, or effect to one or more blocks, or portionsthereof, of the illustrated Figures.

Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in theflowchart and/or block diagrams, they are understood not to limit thescope of the corresponding embodiments. Indeed, some arrows or otherconnectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of the depictedembodiment. For instance, an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoringperiod of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depictedembodiment. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart diagrams, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and code.

The description of elements in each figure may refer to elements ofproceeding figures. Like numbers refer to like elements in all figures,including alternate embodiments of like elements.

FIG. 1A is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of acommunication system 100. The system 100 includes one or more basestations 120 and one or more mobile devices 110. The mobile devices 110may communicate with the base stations 120. A base station 120 may be agNodeB (gNB) base station 120, i.e. New Radio (NR) base station 120, oran enhanced evolved node B (eNB) Long Term Evolution (LTE) base station120. The mobile device 110 may be a mobile telephone, a machine-typecommunications (MTC) device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, andembedded communication devices in automobiles, kiosks, appliances, andthe like.

The system 100 may communicate a downlink control to specify theavailable time frequency resources (TFR) for a downlink datatransmission to the mobile device 110. In addition, the system 100 maycommunicate an uplink control to specify the available time frequencyresources (TFR) for an uplink data transmission to a base station 120.The downlink control and the uplink control are collectively referred tohereafter as a transmission control. The embodiments described hereindetermine the available TFR based in part on a position of an OrthogonalFrequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol as will be describedhereafter. OFDM in general comprises regular OFDM, pre-coded OFDM suchas DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-SOFDM), or Single-carrier FDM (SC-FDM). Inaddition, the system 100 may configure subcarriers for communicationsbetween the base stations 120 and the mobile devices 110 as will bedescribed hereafter.

FIG. 1B is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a14-symbol slot 11. The slot 11 is a time- and frequency-based unit ofcommunication between the base stations 120 and the mobile devices 110.In the depicted embodiment, the slot 11 includes 14 time-based OFDMsymbols 10 and a plurality of frequency-based subcarriers 14 for eachOFDM symbol 10. Each combination of a sub carrier 14 and an OFDM symbol10 forms a resource element 12.

FIG. 1C is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment ofseven-symbol slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, two slots 11 areshown. Each slot 11 includes seven OFDM symbols 10. Each combination ofa sub carrier 14 and an OFDM symbol 10 forms a resource element 12.

FIG. 1D is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a14-symbol slot 11. In the depicted embodiment, the frequencies of eachOFDM symbol 10 is divided into a plurality of frequency ranges orfrequency resources (FR) A frequency range or resource comprises aplurality of subcarriers, with different frequency ranges having thesame or different number of subcarriers. 15. Each combination of an OFDMsymbol 10 and a frequency range 15 forms a TFR 16.

The slot 11 may include one or more mini-slots 17. Each mini-slots 17may include one or more OFDM symbols 10, including each frequency range15 for each OFDM symbol 10. In the depicted embodiment, one and two OFDMsymbol mini-slots 17 are shown. A mini-slot 17 in a 14-symbol slot 11may comprise from 1 to 13 OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 1E is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment ofseven-symbol slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, two slots 11 withmini-slots 17 are shown. The mini-slots 17 include one or more OFDMsymbols 10, including each frequency range 15 for each OFDM symbol 10.In the depicted embodiment, one and two OFDM symbol mini-slots 17 areshown. A mini-slot 17 in a seven-symbol slot 11 may comprise from 1 to 6OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 1F is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of TFRdata 200. The TFR data 200 may describe an available TFR 16. The TFRdata 200 maybe organized as a data structure in a memory and/or encodedfor transmission. In the depicted embodiment, the TFR data 200 includesa TFR number 201, a symbol position 203, and a slot type indicator 205.The TFR number 201 may specify a number of TFR 16 in a datatransmission. In one embodiment, the TFR number 201 is greater than one.The symbol position 203 may indicate a position of a given OFDM symbol10 that includes a transmission control. The slot type indicator 205 maydetermine whether a transmission control is a slot transmission controlor a mini-slot transmission control.

FIG. 1G is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransmission control 150/155. The transmission control 150/155 may beone of a slot transmission control 155 and a mini-slot transmissioncontrol 150. The transmission control 150/155 maybe organized as a datastructure in a memory and/or encoded for transmission. In the depictedembodiment, the transmission control 150/155 includes the starting slotindicator 211, a reserved resources marker 195, and a reserved resourcesbitmap 213. The starting slot indicator 211 may specify an initial slot11 for a data transmission. The reserved resources marker 195 mayindicate a reserved OFDM symbol 10. In one embodiment, a mobile device110 is prevented from receiving or transmitting data in the reservedOFDM symbol 10. The reserved resources bitmap 213 may specify whichslots 11 have a reserved OFDM symbol 10. In addition, the reservedresources bitmap 213 may have a bit set for each reserved OFDM symbol inone or more slots 11.

FIG. 1H is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of amodulation encoding scheme index 220. The modulation encoding schemeindex 220 maybe organized as a data structure and/or encoded fortransmission. In the depicted embodiment, the modulation encoding scheme220 includes a modulation scheme 221 and an encoding rate 223. Themodulation scheme 221 may specify the QAM modulation order to use forthe resource allocated in frequency ranges 15 and/or subcarriers 14 foreach slot 11, OFDM symbols 10 of a slot 11, and/or frequency ranges 15with a slot 11. The encoding rate 223 may specify the rate at which TFR16 are encoded. The modulation scheme 221 and the encoding rate 223 maybe jointly encoded. The transport block size on the allocated TFR 16 maybe determined based on the modulation scheme 221 and the encoding rate223.

FIG. 1I is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransport block index 230. The transport block index 230 may beorganized as a data structure in a memory and/or encoded fortransmission. In the depicted embodiment, the transport block index 230includes a transport block size 231, a TB TFR number 232, and a physicalresource Block (PRB) number 233. The transport block size 231 mayindicate a size of a transport block in a data transmission. The TB TFRnumber 232 may specify a number of TFR 16 in the time-domain in a datatransmission. The PRB number 233 may specify a number of PRB in the datatransmission.

FIG. 1J is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of anumerology scheme 280. The numerology scheme 280 maybe organized as adata structure in a memory and/or encoded for transmission. In thedepicted embodiment, the numerology scheme 280 includes a frequencyregion definition 281 and a subcarrier spacing 283. The frequency rangedefinition 281 may define one or more frequency ranges 15. Thesubcarrier spacing 283 may specify a spacing between subcarriers 14 forone or more frequency regions 15.

FIG. 1K is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransmission control policy 290. The transmission control policy 290maybe organized as a data structure in a memory and/or encoded fortransmission. In the depicted embodiment, the transmission controlpolicy 290 includes the symbol position 203, control frequency ranges204, and the slot type indicator 205. The control frequency ranges 204may specify one or more frequency ranges 15 that include thetransmission control 150/155.

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment oftransmission controls 150/155 within slots 11. In the depictedembodiment, 14-symbol slots 11 and seven-symbol slots 11 are shown. Thetransmission policy 290 may specify that the symbol position 203 of agiven OFDM symbol 10 that includes the transmission control 150/155 isOFDM symbol 0 10 for a slot transmission control 155 in the 14-symbolslot 11 and the seven-symbol slot 11. The symbol position 203 may be ofone or more of OFDM symbols 1-13 10 for a 14-symbol mini-slottransmission control 150 in the 14-symbol slot 11. The symbol position203 may be one or more of OFDM symbols 1-6 10 for a seven-symbolmini-slot transmission control 150 of the seven-symbol slot 11.

In one embodiment, the given OFDM symbol 10 comprises a mini-slottransmission control 150 and 0 to 12 immediately subsequent OFDM symbols10 comprise a mini-slot 17 for a 14-symbol slot 11. In addition, thegiven OFDM symbol 10 may comprise a mini-slot transmission control 150and 0 to 5 immediately subsequent OFDM symbols 10 comprise a mini-slot17 for a seven-symbol slot 11.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls 150/155 within slots 11. In the depictedembodiment, 14-symbol slots 11 and seven-symbol slots 11 are shown. Thetransmission policy 290 may specify that the symbol position 203 of agiven OFDM symbol 10 that includes the transmission control 150/155 isOFDM symbols 0-1 10 for a slot transmission control 155 in the 14-symbolslot 11 and the seven-symbol slot 11. The symbol position 203 of thegiven OFDM symbol 10 may be selected from the group of consisting ofOFDM symbol 2 10, OFDM symbol 4 10, OFDM symbol 6 10, OFDM symbol 8 10,OFDM symbol 10 10, and OFDM symbol 12 10 for a 14-symbol mini-slottransmission control 150 in the 14-symbol slot 11. The symbol position203 of the given OFDM symbol may be selected from the group ofconsisting of OFDM symbol 2 10, OFDM symbol 4 10, and OFDM symbol 6 10for a seven-symbol mini-slot transmission control 150 in theseven-symbol slot 11.

FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls 150/155 within slots 11. In the depictedembodiment, 14-symbol slots 11 and seven-symbol slots 11 are shown. Thetransmission control policy 290 may specify that the symbol position 203of the given OFDM symbol 10 is OFDM symbols 0-1 10 for a slottransmission control 155 in the 14-symbol slot 11 and the seven-symbolslot 11. The symbol position 203 of the given OFDM symbol 10 may be oneor more of OFDM symbols 1-6 10 for a seven-symbol mini-slot transmissioncontrol 150 in the seven-symbol slot 11. The symbol position 203 of thegiven OFDM symbol 10 is one or more of OFDM symbols 1-13 10 for a14-symbol mini-slot transmission control 150 in the 14-symbol slot 11.The slot type indicator 205 may determine whether the transmissioncontrol 190 in OFDM symbol 1 10 is a slot transmission control 155 or amini-slot transmission control 150.

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls 150/155 within slots 11. In the depictedembodiment, 14-symbol slots 11 and seven-symbol slots 11 are shown. Thetransmission control policy 290 may specify that the symbol position 203of the given OFDM symbol 10 is OFDM symbols 0-2 10 for a slottransmission control 155 in the 14-symbol slot 11 and the seven-symbolslot 11. The symbol position 203 of the given OFDM symbol 10 may be oneor more of OFDM symbols 1-13 10 for a 14-symbol mini-slot transmissioncontrol 150 in the 14-symbol slot 11. The symbol position 203 of thegiven OFDM symbol 10 may be one or more of OFDM symbols 1-6 10 for aseven-symbol mini-slot transmission control 150 in a seven-symbol slot11. The slot type indicator 205 may determine whether the transmissioncontrol 190 in OFDM symbols 1 and 2 10 is a slot transmission control155 or a mini-slot transmission control 150.

FIG. 2E is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls 150/155 within slots 11. In the depictedembodiment, 14-symbol slots 11 and seven-symbol slots 11 are shown. Thetransmission control policy 290 may specify that the symbol position 203of the given OFDM symbol 10 is OFDM symbols 0-2 10 for a slottransmission control 155 in the 14-symbol slot 11 and the seven-symbolslot 11. The symbol position 203 of the given OFDM symbol 10 may beselected from the group of consisting of OFDM symbol 2 10, OFDM symbol 410, OFDM symbol 6 10, OFDM symbol 8 10, OFDM symbol 10 10, and OFDMsymbol 12 10 for a 14-symbol mini-slot transmission control 150 in the14-symbol slot 11. The symbol position 203 of the given OFDM symbol 10may be selected from the group of consisting of OFDM symbol 2 10, OFDMsymbol 4 10, and OFDM symbol 6 10 for a seven-symbol mini-slottransmission control 150 in the seven-symbol slot 11. The slot typeindicator 205 may determine whether the transmission control 190 in OFDMsymbol 2 10 is a slot transmission control 155 or a mini-slottransmission control 150.

FIG. 2F is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment oftransmission controls 150 within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment,14-symbol slots 11 and seven-symbol slots 11 are shown. In oneembodiment, the mini-slot transmission control 150 is received at aspecified set of OFDM symbols 10 and frequency regions 15. In addition,the mini-slot transmission control 150 may be received no more than onceeach slot 11 in the given OFDM symbol 10.

FIG. 2G is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls 150 within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment,the mini-slot transmission control 150 is received at a specified set ofOFDM symbols 10 and frequency regions 15.

FIG. 2H is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls 155 within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment,the slot transmission control 155 is received at a specified set of OFDMsymbols 10 and frequency regions 15. In addition, the slot transmissioncontrol 155 may be received no more than once each slot 11 in the givenOFDM symbol 10.

FIG. 2I is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment oftransmission controls 155 within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment,the slot transmission control 155 is received at a specified set of OFDMsymbols 10 and frequency regions 15.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of datatransmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a first TFR 16of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slottransmission control 150. The TFR 16 may include specified frequencyranges 15 for one or more OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodimentdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10that follows the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slot transmissioncontrol 150 after one or more OFDM symbols 10. The TFR 16 may includespecified frequency ranges 15 for one or more OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slottransmission control 150. The TFR 16 may include specified frequencyranges 15 for each OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 3D is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slottransmission control 150. The TFR 16 may include specified frequencyranges 15 for each OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 3E is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slottransmission control 150. The TFR 16 may include specified frequencyranges 15 for one or more OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 3F is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10that follows the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slot transmissioncontrol 150 after one or more OFDM symbols 10. The TFR 16 may includespecified frequency ranges 15 for one or more OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 3G is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slottransmission control 150. The TFR 16 may end at OFDM symbol 13 10 of the14-symbol slot 11. The TFR 16 may include specified frequency ranges 15for one or more OFDM symbols 10. The TFR 16 may be a mini-TFR 16 thatstarts at an OFDM symbol 10 immediately following the given OFDM symbol10 and comprises 2 to 12 OFDM symbols 10. The mini-TFR 16 may beembodied in a mini-slot 17.

FIG. 3H is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the mini-slottransmission control 150. The TFR 16 may further and at OFDM symbol 1310 of a subsequent slot 11. The TFR 16 may include specified frequencyranges 15 for one or more OFDM symbols 10 of one or more slots 0-n 11.

FIG. 3I is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of datatransmission 191. In the depicted embodiment, a transmission 191comprising a mini-slot transmission control 150 and the TFR 16 is at thegiven OFDM symbol 10 on different subcarriers at a specified frequencyrange 15. The TFR 16 may further include subsequent OFDM symbols 10.

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the transmission191. The TFR 16 may include specified frequency ranges 15 for one ormore OFDM symbols 10. The TFR 16 may end at OFDM symbol 13 10 of a last14-symbol slot 11. The TFR 16 may include specified frequency ranges 15for one or more OFDM symbols 10 of one or more 14-symbol slots 0-n 11.

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, a firstTFR 16 of the TFR 16 for a data transmission starts at an OFDM symbol 10immediately following the given OFDM symbol 10 with the transmission191. The TFR 16 may end at a OFDM symbol 6 10 of a last seven-symbolslot 11. The TFR 16 may include specified frequency ranges 15 for one ormore OFDM symbols 10. The TFR 16 may include specified frequency ranges15 for one or more OFDM symbols 10 of one or more seven-symbol slots 11.

FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, the TFRnumber 201 is four. For a given TFR number 201 that is greater than one,the TFR 16 ends at a last OFDM symbol 10 of a slot 11 subsequent to thefirst slot 11. The TFR 16 comprise the TFR number 201 of TFR 16transmitted in the number of TFR slots 11.

FIG. 4D is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofdata transmission within slots 11. In the depicted embodiment, four TFR16 a-d are transmitted in four slots 11. In one embodiment, the TFRnumber 201 specifies the number of TFR 16.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of a reservedresource marker 195. In the depicted embodiment, a transmission controlwith reserved resource marker 195 is received. The reserved resourcemarker 195 may specify a reserved OFDM symbol 170. The reserved OFDMsymbols 170 may allow other devices such as mobile device 110 totransmit acknowledgements such as a Hybrid Automatic Repeat RequestAcknowledge (HARQ-ACK). Data transmission may be omitted in the reservedOFDM symbols 170 by mobile devices 110 receiving the reserved resourcemarker 195. In the depicted embodiment, the reserved OFDM symbol 170 isa last OFDM symbol 10 of a slot 11.

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofa reserved resource marker 195. In the depicted embodiment, atransmission control with reserved resource marker 195 is received. Thereserved resource bitmap 213 may specify which OFDM symbols 10 and slots11 include reserved OFDM symbols 170. Each reserved OFDM symbol 170 maybe reserved for one or more of an uplink communication from mobiledevices 110 to the base station 120, a side link communication betweenmobile devices 120, and a backhaul communication.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of multiplenumerologies. In the depicted embodiment, the numerology scheme 280specifies a first frequency region definition 281 and the firstsubcarrier spacing 283 for a first frequency region 0 15. The numerologyscheme 280 may further specify a second frequency region definition 281and the second subcarrier spacing 283 for one or more second frequencyregions 1-n 15.

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofmultiple numerologies. In the depicted embodiment, a first set of slots11 comprising slot 0 11 is configured with the first numerology scheme280 and a second set of slots 11 comprising slot 1 11 is configured witha second numerology scheme 280. In one embodiment, the first set ofslots 11 is configured with a first sub-carrier spacing 283 and thesecond set of slots 11 is configured with a second sub-carrier spacing283.

FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram illustrating one alternate embodiment ofmultiple numerologies. In the depicted embodiment, a first set of OFDMsymbols 0-3 10 is configured with a first numerology scheme 280 and asecond set of OFDM symbols 4-6 10 is configured with a second numerologyscheme 280. In one embodiment, the first set of OFDM symbols 10 isconfigured with a first sub-carrier spacing 283 and the second set ofOFDM symbols 10 is configured with a second sub-carrier spacing 283.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of atransceiver 400. The transceiver 400 may be embodied in the mobiledevice 110 and/or the base station 120. In the depicted embodiment, thetransceiver 400 includes a processor 405, memory 410, communicationhardware 415, a transmitter 420, and receiver 425. The memory 410 mayinclude a semiconductor storage device, hard disk drive, an opticalstorage device, or combinations thereof. The memory 410 may store code.The processor 405 may execute the code. The communication hardware 415may coordinate communications between the processor 405 and thetransmitter 420 and the receiver 425.

FIG. 8A is a schematic flowchart diagram illustrating one embodiment ofthe scheduling method 500. The method 500 may determine available TFR 16for a data transmission. The method 500 may be performed by thetransceiver 400 and/or the processor 405 of the transceiver 400.

The method 500 starts, and in one embodiment, the processor 405 monitors505 for a transmission control 150/155 in a given OFDM symbol 10 of afirst slot 11 based on the symbol position 203 of the transmissioncontrol policy 290. The transmission control policy 290 may specify oneor more OFDM symbols 10 specified by the symbol position 203 and/or oneor more frequency ranges 15 specified by the control frequency ranges204 to monitor 505. FIGS. 2A-I illustrates examples of given OFDMsymbols 10 that may be monitored 505.

In one embodiment, slots 11 are monitored for the transmission control150/155 based on the OFDM symbol duration for a frequency region 15. Forexample, slots 11 with shorter OFDM symbol durations may be monitoredfor the transmission control 150/155 in a limited set of given OFDMsymbols 10 while slots 11 with longer OFDM symbol durations may bemonitored for the transmission control 150/155 in an expanded set ofgiven OFDM symbols 10.

The processor 405 may receive 510 the transmission control 150/155 inthe given OFDM symbol 10. The transmission control 150/155 may be amini-slot transmission control 150 or a slot transmission control 155.

In one embodiment, the processor 405 receives 515 the reserved resourcesmarker 195 with the transmission control 150/155. The reserved resourcesmarker 195 may specify a reserved OFDM symbol 170.

The processor 405 determines 520 the available TFR 16 for the datatransmission based on at least a symbol position 203 of the given OFDMsymbol 10 and the transmission control policy 290. In one embodiment,the processor 405 omits TFR 16 in the reserved OFDM symbol 170. The TFR16 comprise at least one OFDM symbol 10 and at least one frequency range15. The processor 405 further communicates 525 the transmission data inthe TFR 16 and the method 500 ends.

FIG. 8B is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment ofa multiple numerology method 700. The method 700 configures subcarriers14 for at least one frequency region 15 based on the numerology scheme280. The method 700 may be performed by the transceiver 400 and/or theprocessor 405 of the transceiver 400.

The method 700 starts, and in one embodiment, the processor 405 receives705 the numerology scheme 280. In one embodiment, the numerology scheme280 is received 705 when the mobile device 110 connects with the basestation 120.

The processor 405 further configures 710 the subcarriers 14 for at leastone frequency region 15 based on the numerology scheme 280 and themethod 700 ends. In addition, the processor 405 may configure thesubcarrier spacing 283 and frequency region definition 281 for thesubcarriers 14.

In one embodiment, a ‘subframe duration’ is 1 ms for a referencenumerology with 15 kHz subcarrier spacing, and ½^(m) ms for referencenumerology with 2^(m)*15 kHz subcarrier spacing.

While the ‘subframe duration’ is defined using a reference numerology,‘slot 11’ and ‘mini-slot 17’ are defined in terms of the numerology usedfor transmission. The numerology used of transmission of slot/mini-slotcan be different from the reference numerology used for determiningsubframe duration. ‘Slot 11’ and ‘mini-slot 17’ durations can becharacterized as below

FIG. 9 illustrates slot durations 91 and mini-slot durations 94considering two example subcarrier-spacing values 15 kHz and 60 kHz. Asshown in the figure, defining a 1 symbol mini-slot allows continuousopportunities to send a transmission control 150/155 such as a Downlink(DL) control to the mobile derive 110, referred to hereafter as UE. UEcan be configured with a Mini-slot comprising number of OFDM symbols inthe numerology used for transmission smaller than the number of OFDMsymbols in a slot. It is desirable to minimize the number of supportedmini-slot lengths, i.e., support only 1 symbol mini-slot. However, ifmultiple mini-slot lengths are defined (e.g. 1 symbol and 2 symbolmini-slots are defined), the UE can be configured with only onemini-slot length at any given time. DL control signaling can be sent tothe UE once every slot duration. If the UE is configured with aMini-slot, DL control signaling can be sent to the UE once everymini-slot, in addition to once every slot. The opportunities includeopportunities to send a slot transmission control 92 and opportunitiesto send a mini-slot transmission control 93. This is suitable forsupporting latency critical traffic applications, and also for operatingin spectrum where carrier sense multiple access is needed or desirable(e.g. unlicensed spectrum). Configuring a mini-slot 17 does notnecessarily increase overhead (overhead would mainly depend on theresource granularity used for scheduling data transmissions). However,it can impact UE complexity and power consumption. Appropriate controlchannel reception and DRX mechanisms to should be designed to addressthis issue. UE control channel decoding complexity can be reduced byhaving similar control channel transmission structure for slot based andmini-slot based DL control.

Resource Allocation Units

Another aspect to consider is resource allocation granularity, i.e., thegranularity with which DL/Uplink (UL) resources can be assigned/grantedto the UE. Considering the wide range of use cases targeted for NR,flexible resource allocation granularity in both time and frequencydomain is desirable.

In time domain, NR resources can be assigned in multiples of Timeresource units (TRUs) 95 or mini-TRU 96. FIG. 10 illustrates TRU 95 andmini-TRU 96 that are scheduled via a slot transmission control 92/155and scheduled via a mini-slot transmission control 93/150. TRUs 95 andmini-TRUs 95 may be characterized as shown.

UE can be assigned DL/UL resources in multiples of TRUs 95. 1TRUcorresponds to all available OFDM symbols 10 within one slot 11.

For example, if the UE receives DL control in slot 1 indicating 3 TRUs95 for DL reception, for determining its time-domain resourceallocation, the UE determines that available OFDM symbols 10 in 3 slotsstarting from slot 1 (i.e., slots 1,2,3) are assigned to it for DLreception.

In one embodiment, UE can also be configured to receive mini-TRU basedDL/UL resource assignments. One mini-TRU 95 can correspond to one OFDMsymbol 10 in the numerology used for transmission. Alternately, onemini-TRU 96 can correspond another slightly larger value (e.g. 2 or 3OFDM symbols 10)

FIG. 10 illustrates a few example resource allocations that are possibleusing TRU based and mini-TRU based resource allocation granularity, andalso using slot based and mini-slot based DL control channeltransmission. mini-slots and mini-TRUs need not be configured for allcases. However, they can be useful to serving UEs with latency criticaltraffic and also for operation in unlicensed spectrum especially forhigh load scenarios. While the figure illustrates DL resourceallocations, same definitions are also applicable for uplink. However,for uplink, the time offset between the UL grant and the correspondinguplink transmission (TRU based or mini-TRU based) should also besignaled to the UE.

In frequency domain, similar to LTE, resources can be assigned usingmultiples of PRBs and PRB groups, where a PRB group consists of multiplePRBs (e.g. 4 PRBs or 8PRBs). PRB group size can be RRC configured.

Whether a given resource assignment is assigning resources with TRUgranularity or with mini-TRU granularity can be indicated to the UE.This can be indicated explicitly, e.g. via a bit in the controlinformation sent using the DL control channel or implicitly, e.g. usingseparate identifier (e.g. RNTI) or format for the DL control channelscarrying TRU-based and mini-TRU based resource assignments.

Similarly, for frequency domain, whether a given resource assignment isassigning resources with PRB granularity or with PRB-group granularitycan be indicated to the UE. This can be indicated explicitly, e.g. via abit in the control information sent using the DL control channel orimplicitly, e.g. using separate identifier (e.g. RNTI) or format for theDL control channels carrying PRB-based and PRB group based resourceassignments.

Also, how the UE determines the number of available OFDM symbols withineach assigned TRU can depend on whether the DL control channel is sentusing slot based control (i.e., at a slot boundary) or whether it issent using mini-slot based control (i.e., starting at an OFDM symbolthat is not aligned with slot boundary).

For example, considering FIG. 11, if the DL control is received in thebeginning of slot 0 11 (e.g. it is slot based DL control), and if itassigns 2 TRUs 95, the UE determines that OFDM symbols 1-6 10 areavailable in slot 0 (first assigned TRU) and all OFDM symbols 10 areavailable in slot 1 11 (2^(nd) assigned TRU). However, if the DL controlis received in OFDM symbol 2 10 of slot 0 11, and if it assigns 2 TRUs95, the UE determines that OFDM symbols 3-6 10 are available in slot 011 (first assigned TRU 95) and all OFDM symbols 10 are available in slot1 11 (2^(nd) assigned TRU 95).

In some cases, e.g., TDD systems, the UE also has to take into accountpresence of UL resources within a slot while determining the availableOFDM symbols 10 of that slot 11 for DL reception. For example,considering FIG. 12, UE1 is assigned to receive 3TRUs 95 in via DLcontrol in slot 0, UE2 is assigned to receive 1 TRU 95 in via DL controlin slot 0. UE2 transmits the HARQ-ACK corresponding to its received datain the last symbol of slot 1 11. In this case, that symbol 10 (i.e.,symbol 6 of slot 1) should be considered unavailable for DL datareception by UE1. One option to provide this information to UE1 is toinclude some bits in the DL control of UE1 using which the UE candetermine the unavailable symbols 10 in the slot(s) corresponding to theassigned TRUs 95.

However, it may not always be possible to indicate the unavailablesymbols 10 of a resource assignment, in the corresponding DL controlwhere that resource assignment is sent. For example, considering FIG.13, UE1 is assigned to receive 3TRUs 95 in via DL control in slot 0 11,UE2 is assigned to receive 1 TRU 95 in via DL control in slot 1 11. UE2transmits the HARQ-ACK corresponding to its received data in the lastsymbol 170 of slot 2 11. In this case, that symbol 170 (i.e., symbol 6of slot 2) should be considered unavailable for DL data reception byUE1. However, since UE1's DL grant is sent before UE2's DL grant, it maynot be possible to indicate that symbol 6 of slot 2 is unavailable inUE1's DL grant. One solution to address this issue is to make the UEread a “marker transmission” in each slot 11 corresponding to the TRUsassigned to the UE. The marker transmission can be sent typically in thebeginning portion of each slot 11 and indicate the symbols used for ULin that slot 11. This is illustrated in FIG. 13 where the markertransmission is sent in first symbol 10 of every slot 11. Since theinformation sent in the marker transmission is rather small (e.g. a 5 or6-bit bitmap to identify unavailable symbols), the frequency resourcesused for the marker transmission are expected to be rather limited. e.g.within the first symbol 10 of each slot 11, the marker can be sent is xPRBs (x may be 2, 4, 6 depending cell coverage etc.), where each PRBcorresponds to 12 subcarriers.

In some examples, the “marker transmission” may not be present in allslots 11—UE assumes all the OFDM symbols 10 in the slot 11 are DL whenthe marker transmission is not detected. The marker transmission designhas to be such that it has a very high detection probability whentransmitted. In some examples, the marker transmission is sent on acommon search space of a control channel with a marker specific RNTI. Incase when the UE has scheduled UL transmission in a slot (portion of aslot), UE is not expected to receive a marker transmission indicatingany of the UL symbols as not unavailable symbols. In one example of thiscase, the UE assumes the market transmission indicates the worst caseunavailable symbols 10, i.e., maximum number of unavailable symbols 10.In another example of this case, the UE disregards the DL schedulingassignment and restores the HARQ soft buffer for the corresponding HARQprocess to it was before it received the DL scheduling assignment, UEmay also not transmit a HARQ-ACK feedback.

Transmission Time Interval

Another aspect to consider is the notion of transmission time interval(TTI). In one embodiment, a “TTI” typically refers to the duration inwhich the UE can receive/transmit a transport block (TB) 89 from higherlayers (i.e., a MAC PDU from MAC layer). Therefore, TTI length dependson how TBs 89 are mapped to TRUs 95/mini-TRUs 96 assigned to the UE.

For example, the DL control can include control information and thefollowing can be indicated as part of the control information:

-   -   number of PRBs (# PRBs) assigned    -   number of TRUs 95 (# TRUs) assigned    -   MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme)    -   number of TBs 89 assigned (optional)    -   based on this information UE can transmit/receive one or more        transport blocks using one of the below approaches

In one example, UE can use a formula or lookup table to determine a TBsize for a given # PRBs, # TRUs and MCS combination and then assume thata single TB with that TB size is sent on the time frequency resourcescorresponding to the # PRBs and # TRUs allocation indicated in thecontrol information. In this case, TTI duration for the TB 89 is givenby the duration of all indicated TRUs 95. FIG. 14 shows an example forthis case.

In another example, UE can use a formula or lookup table to determine aTB size for a given # PRBs and MCS combination, and then assume that amultiple TBs 89 with that TB size (e.g. one TB for each TRU 95 in the #TRUs indicated) are sent on the time frequency resources correspondingto the # PRBs and # TRUs allocation indicated in the control information87. The multiple TBs can include repetition of one or more TBs.

In this case, TTI duration for each TB 89 is given by the duration ofeach TRU 95 on which the TB 89 is sent. FIG. 15 shows an example forthis case.

If number of TBs 89 assigned is also included as part of controlinformation, and it indicates x TBs, UE can use a formula or lookuptable to determine a TB size for a given # PRBs and MCS combination, andthen transmit/receive x TBs with the determined TB size on the timefrequency resources corresponding to the # PRBs and # TRUs allocationindicated in the control information. In this case, it is possible thattransmission of some of the TBs can start in one slot corresponding to afirst allocated TRU 95 and end in the middle of a later slotcorresponding to a later allocated TRU 95 later than the first allocatedTRU 95. FIG. 16 shows an example for this case.

In another example, the DL control can include control information andthe following can be indicated as part of the control information:

-   -   number of PRBs (# PRBs) assigned    -   number of TRUs 95 (# TRUs) assigned    -   TB index (corresponding to a TB size)    -   number of TBs 89 assigned (optional)    -   based on this information UE can transmit/receive one or more        transport blocks using one of the below approaches

In one example, UE can determine a transport block size from the TBindex value, and a transmit/receive a single TB 89 (e.g. similar to FIG.14) with that TB size on the time frequency resources corresponding tothe # PRBs and # TRUs allocation indicated in the control information.UE can use a formula or look up table to determine the MCS value usedfor transmission/reception of the transport block for a given TB size, #PRBs and # TRUs combination.

In another example, UE can determine a transport block size from the TBindex value, and a transmit/receive multiple TBs (e.g. one TB for eachTRU in the # TRUs indicated as shown in FIG. 15) with that TB size onthe time frequency resources corresponding to the # PRBs and # TRUsallocation indicated in the control information. UE can use a formula orlook up table to determine the MCS value used for transmission/receptionof the transport block for a given TB size, # PRBs combination.

If number of TBs 89 (# TBs) assigned is also included as part of controlinformation, and it indicates x TBs, UE can determine a transport blocksize from the TB index value, and then transmit/receive x TBs with thedetermined TB size on the time frequency resources corresponding to the# PRBs and # TRUs allocation indicated in the control information. Inthis case, it is possible that transmission of some of the TBs can startin one slot corresponding to a first allocated TRU 95 and end in themiddle of a later slot corresponding to a later allocated TRU 95 laterthan the first allocated TRU 95. UE can use a formula or look up tableto determine the MCS value used for transmission/reception of thetransport block for a given TB size, # PRBs, # TRUs, # TBs combination.

In the examples discussed above, the control information in thetransmission control 93 may include a number of mini-TRUs 96 (#mini-TRUs) instead of # TRUs. In that case, UE can use # mini-TRUs valuein place of # TRUs. In the examples discussed above, the controlinformation may include a number of PRB groups (# PRB-groups) instead of# PRBs. In that case, UE can # PRB-groups value in place of # PRBs.

UL Resources and Reserved Resources

In one embodiment, the system should support an operation mode where(time domain) resources reserved for UL are semi-statically indicated tothe UE. Similar to semi-static reservation of UL resources, it shouldalso be possible to semi-statically reserve time domain resources forother transmissions such as sidelink transmissions or backhaultransmissions. From a DL reception perspective, the UE can consider OFDMsymbols 10 corresponding to reserved resources (for UL or otherpurposes) are considered as unavailable for DL data transmission if theassigned TRUs for the UE overlap the reserved resources.

Another flexible and forward compatible approach for supporting ULtransmissions is to let UE determine its UL transmission resources basedon information received in L1 DL control signaling.

For UL data transmission, TRUs 95/mini-TRUs 96 that the UE should usecan be signaled in the UL grant along with the time offset between theUL grant and the allocated TRUs.

For UL HARQ-ACK transmission (in response to DL data), considering thesupport for multi-TRU and mini-TRU allocations, the timing for HARQ-ACKdepends on the end point of DL data transmission and time-frequencymapping of the DL TBs. Also, the number of TRUs 95/mini-TRUs 96 requiredfor HARQ-ACK transmission depends on several factors including UEcoverage and latency requirements. Considering these aspects, the systemshould also support an operation mode where no UL resources arepre-reserved using semi-static signaling.

Multiple Numerologies Per Carrier and Across Carriers

A UE may be configured to monitor the slot and mini-slot occurrences(e.g. attempt to decode slot based DL control and/or mini-slot based DLcontrol) in different frequency regions of a carrier in a given timeinterval with each frequency region having its own numerology andsubcarrier spacing.

Also, a UE may be configured to monitor the slot and mini-slotoccurrences (e.g. attempt to decode slot-based DL control and/ormini-slot based DL control) in different frequency regions in eachcarrier over multiple carriers in a given time interval with eachfrequency region having its own numerology and subcarrier spacing.

To reduce complexity, the UE may be configured to only monitor a subsetof all possible slot and mini-slot occurrences in each frequency regionto reduce the overall required control and data decoding attempts forthe given time interval.

In one embodiment, DCI format of the DL control provides a compressedresource allocation indication for narrow band allocation. The UEconfigured to monitor control channel with a first dedicated controlchannel indicator format. The first dedicated control channel indicatorformat including an indication of a sub-band starting position. In oneembodiment the UE is provided with resource allocation within asub-portion of the wideband channel and the DCI indicates which sub-bandthis is.

In another embodiment, resource allocation can begin in any slot 11 andin any mini-slot location of the indicated slot. The control channelindicator can include the starting slot location for allocation. TheControl channel indicator includes the starting slot location forallocation (so UE can receive control channel in slot other than thebeginning slot of allocation).

In one embodiment, aggregation of DL control resources across mini-slotsis configured to determine the downlink control information.

In another embodiment of receiving control channel information, thereceiving control the control channel information can further include afrequency diverse allocation field consisting of a single bit indicatingfrequency diverse allocations for the resource assignments; thefrequency diverse allocation determined by one or more of the resourceallocation fields, a priori information, and using signaling other thanthe control channel, the a priori information comprising the contents ofa look-up table the signaling other than the control channel compriseshigh layer signaling to indicate which sub-frames of the continuum ofconcatenated sub-frames are included in the frequency diverseallocation. In one example, the plurality of resource allocation fieldsindicating a resource assignment to the wireless communication device.

In one embodiment, UE may be configured to monitor first mini-slot ofslot or every mini-slot of slot. The resource allocation informationindicates the Start of the first mini-slot, number of slots or it couldbe a fixed number of mini-slots from the mini-slot containing the PDCCHproviding resource allocation.

In another embodiment, the Resource allocation information can indicatethe number of slots for which the allocation is valid, including thenumber of mini-slots in the last slot of allocation. In this case theresource allocation or time resource unit need not align with the end ofthe slot boundary.

Additional Embodiments

1. A method in a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

-   -   receiving a plurality of slots forming a continuum of        concatenated slots, each slot having time-frequency resource        elements,

each slot further composed of a first number of OFDM symbols,

the wireless communication device configured to monitor for controlchannel (at least in the first symbol of each slot

decoding a control channel assigned to the UE and receiving controlchannel information allocating resources to the UE for receiving data

determining the time resource units in the decoded control channelinformation

determining the available OFDM symbols in the slots associated with thetime resource units based on the symbol location in which the controlchannel is received

receiving data based on the resource allocation in the decoded controlchannel and the available OFDM symbols.

1a. The method in claim 1, receiving a plurality of slots furthercomprising, the slot includes a continuum of mini-slots, a mini-slotcomposed of a second number of OFDM symbols, the second number is lessthan the first number of OFDM symbols

1b. The method of claim 1a further comprising, configuring thecommunication device to monitor the first symbol of each mini-slot

2. Method of claim 1 where the UE Is configured to monitor the firstsymbol of a sub-set of slots, the subset of slots not including everyslot in the continuum of slots

2a. Method of claim 1b where the UE Is configured to monitor the firstsymbol of a sub-set of mini-slots, the subset of mini-slots notincluding every mini-slot in the continuum of mini-slots

3. the method of claim 1 including

receiving control channel information including the location (identityof symbols) of uplink resources that overlap the time resource unitsassigned to the UE

Determining the available OFDM symbols based on the location of uplinkresource and the length of the time resource units

receiving data based in the resource allocation in the decoded controlchannel and the available OFDM symbols.

4. the method of claim 1 including

Receiving marker information in the first symbol of every slot

the marker information including, identity of symbols used for (orpresence or lack thereof) of uplink resources in the corresponding slot

Determining the available OFDM symbols based on the identity of symbolsused for uplink resource, the determining including removing the symbolsused for uplink resource from the available OFDM symbols

receiving data based in the resource allocation in the decoded controlchannel and the available OFDM symbols.

5. A method in a wireless communication device or UE, the methodcomprising receiving a configuration message, the configuration messageconfiguring the UE to monitor on a first carrier a first subset of slotand mini-slot occasions, and further configuring the UE to monitor on asecond carrier a second subset of slot and mini-slot occasions whereineach slot occasion comprises a first number of OFDM symbol durations andeach mini-slot occasion comprises a second number of OFDM symboldurations and the second number is smaller than the first number.

6. The method of claim 5, where first subset of slot and mini-slotsoccasions correspond to a first numerology and sub-carrier spacing andthe second subset of slot and mini-slot occasions correspond to a secondnumerology and subcarrier spacing.

7. A method in a wireless communication device or UE, the methodcomprising receiving a configuration message, the configuration messageconfiguring the UE to monitor in each frequency region of a plurality offrequency regions, a subset of available slot and mini-slot occasionswherein each slot occasion comprises a first number of OFDM symboldurations and each mini-slot occasion comprises a second number of OFDMsymbol durations and the second number is smaller than the first number,where the plurality of frequency regions may be in one carrier or mappedto more than one carrier.

8. The method of claim 7, where each subset of slot and mini-slotsoccasions corresponds to a different numerology and sub-carrier spacing.

1 An apparatus comprising:

-   -   a processor that performs;    -   monitoring for a transmission control in a given Orthogonal        Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a first slot        based on a transmission control policy;    -   receiving the transmission control in the given OFDM symbol;    -   determining available time frequency resources (TFR) for a data        transmission based on at least a symbol position of the given        OFDM symbol and the transmission control policy, wherein the TFR        comprise at least one OFDM symbol and at least one frequency        range; and communicating the data transmission in the TFR.

2 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control is one of adownlink control for a downlink data transmission to a mobile device andan uplink control for an uplink data transmission to a base station.

3 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control policyspecifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is OFDMsymbol 0 for a slot transmission control, the symbol position is of oneor more of OFDM symbols 1-13 for a 14-symbol mini-slot transmissioncontrol, and the symbol position is one or more of OFDM symbols 1-6 fora seven-symbol mini-slot transmission control.

4 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control policyspecifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is OFDMsymbols 0-1 for a slot transmission control, the symbol position of thegiven OFDM symbol is selected from the group of consisting of OFDMsymbol 2, OFDM symbol 4, OFDM symbol 6, OFDM symbol 8, OFDM symbol 10,and OFDM symbol 12 for a 14-symbol mini-slot transmission control, andthe symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is selected from the groupof consisting of OFDM symbol 2, OFDM symbol 4, and OFDM symbol 6 for aseven-symbol mini-slot transmission control.

5 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control policyspecifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is OFDMsymbols 0-1 for a slot transmission control, the symbol position of thegiven OFDM symbol is one or more of OFDM symbols 1-6 for a seven-symbolmini-slot transmission control, and the symbol position of the givenOFDM symbol is one or more of OFDM symbols 1-13 for a 14-symbolmini-slot transmission control, wherein a slot type indicator determineswhether the transmission control in OFDM symbol 1 is a slot transmissioncontrol 155 or a mini-slot transmission control.

6 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control policyspecifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is OFDMsymbols 0-2 for a slot transmission control, the symbol position of thegiven OFDM symbol is one or more of OFDM symbols 1-13 for a 14-symbolmini-slot transmission control, and the symbol position of the givenOFDM symbol is one or more of OFDM symbols 1-6 for a seven-symbolmini-slot transmission control, wherein a slot type indicator determineswhether the transmission control in OFDM symbols 1 and 2 is a slottransmission control or a mini-slot transmission control.

7 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control policyspecifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is OFDMsymbols 0-2 for a slot transmission control, the symbol position of thegiven OFDM symbol is selected from the group of consisting of OFDMsymbol 2, OFDM symbol 4, OFDM symbol 6, OFDM symbol 8, OFDM symbol 10,and OFDM symbol 12 for a 14-symbol mini-slot transmission control, andthe symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is selected from the groupof consisting of OFDM symbol 2, OFDM symbol 4, and OFDM symbol 6 for aseven-symbol mini-slot transmission control, wherein a slot typeindicator determines whether the transmission control in OFDM symbol 2is a slot transmission control or a mini-slot transmission control.

8 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the given OFDM symbol comprises amini-slot transmission control and 0 to 12 immediately subsequent OFDMsymbols comprise a mini-slot.

9 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control is receivedat a specified set of OFDM symbols and frequency regions and is receivedno more than once each slot in the given OFDM symbol.

10 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a first TFR of the TFR starts at anOFDM symbol immediately following the given OFDM symbol and ends at OFDMsymbol 13 of a 14-symbol slot and ends at OFDM symbol 6 of aseven-symbol slot.

11 The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the transmission control comprisesa TFR number that specifies a number of TFR in the data transmission andwherein for a given TFR number that is greater than one, the TFR end ata last OFDM symbol of a slot subsequent to the first slot and whereinthe TFR comprise the TFR number of TFR transmitted in the number of TFRslots.

12 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the TFR is a mini-TFR that startsat an OFDM symbol immediately following the given OFDM symbol andcomprises 2 to 12 OFDM symbols.

13 The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the mini-TFR is embodied within amini-slot.

14 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission control comprisesa modulation encoding scheme (MCS) index that specifies a modulationscheme and an encoding rate and the TFR are determined based on themodulation scheme and the encoding rate.

15 The apparatus of claim 12, the transmission control furthercomprising a starting slot indicator that specifies an initial slot forthe data transmission.

16 The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further performs:

receiving a resource marker that indicates a reserved OFDM symbol; and

omitting TFR in the reserved OFDM symbol.

17 The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the reserved resources marker 195comprises a reserved resources bitmap with a bit set for each reservedOFDM symbol in one or more slots.

18 The apparatus of claim 16, wherein each reserved OFDM symbol isreserved for one or more of an uplink communication, a side linkcommunication and a back-off communication.

Problem/Solution

Radio frequency bandwidths are valuable. As a result, it is advantageousto minimize the use of bandwidth. The embodiments described hereinemploy mini slots 17 to reduce the bandwidth resources required incommunications between the base station 120 and a mobile device 110. Inaddition, the embodiments determine available TFR 16 for a datatransmission based at least in part on the symbol position 203 of agiven OFDM symbol 10 that carries the transmission control 150/155. As aresult, transmission control data bits may be conserved.

Embodiments may be practiced in other specific forms. The described maybe performed by a processor. Embodiments are to be considered in allrespects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of theinvention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than bythe foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within theirscope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: monitoring, by use of a processor, for a transmission control in a given Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a first slot based on a transmission control policy, wherein the transmission control policy specifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is only OFDM symbol 4 for a seven-symbol mini-slot transmission control, wherein the transmission control is an uplink control or a downlink control; receiving the transmission control in the given OFDM symbol; receiving information including symbol position of uplink resources that overlap with a time frequency resources (TFR); determining available TFR for a data transmission based on at least a symbol position of the given OFDM symbol, the transmission control, and the symbol position of the uplink resources that overlap with the TFR, wherein the TFR comprise at least one OFDM symbol and at least one frequency range; and communicating the data transmission in the TFR.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission control is the downlink control for a downlink data transmission to a mobile device and the uplink control for an uplink data transmission to a base station.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the given OFDM symbol comprises a mini-slot transmission control and 0 to 12 immediately subsequent OFDM symbols comprise a mini-slot.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission control is received at a specified set of OFDM symbols and frequency regions and is received no more than once each slot in the given OFDM symbol.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein a first TFR of the TFR starts at an OFDM symbol 10 immediately following the given OFDM symbol and ends at OFDM symbol 13 of a 14-symbol slot and ends at OFDM symbol 6 of a seven-symbol slot.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the transmission control comprises a TFR number that specifies a number of TFR in the data transmission and wherein for a given TFR number that is greater than one, the TFR end at a last OFDM symbol of a slot subsequent to the first slot and wherein the TFR comprise the TFR number of TFR transmitted in the number of TFR slots.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the TFR is a mini-TFR that starts at an OFDM symbol immediately following the given OFDM symbol and comprises 2 to 12 OFDM symbols.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the mini-TFR is embodied within a mini-slot.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission control comprises a modulation encoding scheme (MCS) index that specifies a modulation scheme and an encoding rate and the TFR are determined based on the modulation scheme and the encoding rate.
 10. The method of claim 7, the transmission control further comprising a starting slot indicator that specifies an initial slot for the data transmission.
 11. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising: receiving a resource marker that indicates a reserved OFDM symbol; and omitting TFR in the reserved OFDM symbol.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the reserved resources marker comprises a reserved resources bitmap with a bit set for each reserved OFDM symbol in one or more slots.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein each reserved OFDM symbol is reserved for one or more of an uplink communication, a side link communication and a back-off communication.
 14. An apparatus comprising: a processor that performs; monitoring for a transmission control in a given Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a first slot based on a transmission control policy, wherein the transmission control policy specifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is only OFDM symbol 4 for a seven-symbol mini-slot transmission control, wherein the transmission control is an uplink control or a downlink control; receiving the transmission control in the given OFDM symbol; receiving information including symbol position of uplink resources that overlap with a time frequency resources (TFR); determining available TFR for a data transmission based on at least a symbol position of the given OFDM symbol, the transmission control, and the symbol position of the uplink resources that overlap with the TFR, wherein the TFR comprise at least one OFDM symbol and at least one frequency range; and communicating the data transmission in the TFR.
 15. A program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing code executable by a processor to perform: monitoring for a transmission control in a given Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol of a first slot based on a transmission control policy, wherein the transmission control policy specifies that the symbol position of the given OFDM symbol is only OFDM symbol 4 for a seven-symbol mini-slot transmission control, wherein the transmission control is an uplink control or a downlink control; receiving the transmission control in the given OFDM symbol; receiving information including symbol position of uplink resources that overlap with a time frequency resources (TFR); determining available TFR for a data transmission based on at least a symbol position of the given OFDM symbol, the transmission control, and the symbol position of the uplink resources that overlap with the TFR, wherein the TFR comprise at least one OFDM symbol and at least one frequency range; and communicating the data transmission in the TFR.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission control policy further specifies monitoring for transmission control in the given OFDM symbol on a sub-set of mini-slots of a plurality of min-slots forming a continuum of concatenated mini-slots.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission control comprises a modulation encoding scheme (MCS) index that specifies a modulation scheme and an encoding rate and further comprises determining, by use of a formula, a transport block size (TBS) of a transport block (TB) of the data transmission based on the TFR, the modulation scheme and the encoding rate.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the transmission control comprises a TFR number that specifies a number of TFR in the data transmission and wherein for a given TFR number that is greater than one, the transport block with the determined transport block size is mapped on the time frequency resources corresponding to the TFR number of TFR indicated in the transmission control.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the transmission control comprises a TFR number that specifies a number of TFR in the data transmission and wherein for a given TFR number that is greater than one, each of a plurality of transport blocks with the determined transport block size is mapped on the time frequency resources corresponding to each of the TFR number of TFR indicated in the transmission control. 